Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a shaft assembly for a mechanical bucket and more particularly to a shaft assembly and method of making the same for use with a mechanical bucket.
State of the Art
The separation of smaller material from larger material is common in instances such as excavation wherein the smaller material is desired at one location and the larger material is desired to be at a second location. This is commonly performed in a process that requires several steps to complete.
For example, a vehicle such as, but not limited to a hydraulic excavator, backhoe or loader applications, may use a bucket or other device to collect a particular amount of material. The material may be deposited into a separating device, such as a screen or disc screen separator. The smaller material is separated from the larger material. The smaller material may then be transported to a first location and the larger material may be transported to a second location. There are several limitations to these common or conventional forms of separating smaller material from larger material.
One limitation includes having multiple pieces of equipment to perform the separation of the material. A vehicle is required to collect the material. A separating device then separates the smaller material from the larger material. A vehicle may be employed to deliver the smaller material to a first location and another vehicle may be employed to deliver the larger material to second location. This creates a time consuming process of separating material.
Mechanical buckets have been employed to screen the material in the place of the multistep and multi-equipment systems discussed above. The mechanical bucket is limited in the shaft assemblies that are utilized to separate the material. Conventional shaft assemblies have several parts that are welded to a shaft. The making of these shaft assemblies are time consuming and prevent reuse of the shaft.